Thu Nov 1, 2018

This recipe for Baltimore pit beef has been a long time coming. It was on my radar as something I really want to develop a recipe for from my early days of cooking because it was somewhat familiar to me from past trips to Baltimore and also incorporated both my love for grilling and roast beef. I always kept it on the back burner though because I felt like I really needed a meat slicer to get the ideal thin and even cuts to get it right—I knew my lacking hand slicing skills would not be good enough. While in New York though, a meat slicer was not a practical purchase because the space it would require was never available in our apartment, then when I moved to North Carolina, I felt like I needed to be settled first before adding another bulky item to my kitchen. Well, it took over twelve years for the time to be right to add a meat slicer to my arsenal of tools, but it finally happen last winter when my mom gifted me a Chef's Choice model, and while some adverse weather put delays on earlier attempts to make Baltimore pit beef this year, it finally happen a couple weeks ago and the results were glorious.

Thu Oct 25, 2018

It's kind of surprising how long I lived next door to New Jersey without ever knowing about one of the state's best inventions—Taylor pork roll. I also will never forget the first time I was introduced to this seasoned processed pork product that hails from Trenton while at a camping trip with a group of NJ-native friends who brought the stuff along to make some of the tastiest breakfast sandwiches I'd ever had. I was instantly smitten, but have left pork roll consumption to my times in New Jersey, which translates to rarely ever eating it. I noticed recently though that my local grocery carries it, and while preparing a Meatwave made of up of all Mid-Atlantic specialities, it seemed fitting to pick up a couple packages and start off the event with these pork roll sandwiches.

Thu Oct 18, 2018

As of late, one deciding go or no go factor for my recipes has been based on their ability to be translated into vegetarian versions with a high degree of quality. Don't fret, the Meatwave isn't going vegetarian, but I've been much more mindful of my guests who are not meat eaters, and while that attention is always appreciated, it seems to be the most successful when my guests are able to enjoy things very similar to what everyone else is eating. So while the original impetus for this Korean spicy bulgogi recipe was for use with thinly sliced pork shoulder, the immensely flavorful marinade seemed perfect for seasoning tofu, and at the end of the day, every eater at my cookout was able to enjoy this crazy delicious dish.

Thu Oct 11, 2018

This past Meatwave season has been a challenging one. It took a couple months longer than I was expecting to get it off the ground thanks to poor weather, then I had been traveling so much over the summer than I always felt like I was rushing to cram in a cookout with never enough time to prepare. In one of these instances, I only gave myself two days to get everything ready—usually shopping and prep spans twice as long—and decided that a purely hot dog affair would help ease the pressure of trying to do too much it too little time. I knew I really wanted to do Chicago Dogs, which is a favorite of mine, and these turned out being the most stress-free item on the menu because I literally just bought a kit off of the Vienna Beef website, which was the best way for me to procure all the hyper-regional ingredients, ensuring these would be as legit as possible coming off a grill in North Carolina.

Thu Oct 4, 2018

Well, it felt like the heat would never relent, but finally, the seasons are starting to change here in Durham. It's not quite feeling like fall yet though, but more how a pleasant summer should be—warm and comfortable, just generally good times to be outside. So I have not yet transitioned into my orange veggie, fall extravaganza mode, but instead am enjoying the last hurrays of the summer season, and this grilled vegetable and Israeli couscous salad is good note to go out on.